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"Never under any condition should this nation look at an immigrant as primarily a labor unit. He should always be looked at primarily as a future citizen."-Theodore Roosevelt, 1917

"It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people."-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Isaona i tumungo’ ya ha sedi, ki ayo i mismo umisagui hao. Greater is the fault of he who allows the injustice upon himself. "-Chamorro proverb

"There can be no tyrants where there are no slaves." -Jose Rizal

"I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights." -Bishop Desmond Tutu

Disclaimer: This is not a legal blog. No opinion or statement should be perceived as legal advice. All posts are the opinion of the author or contributors who are expressing their First Amendment Rights.

Exactly what does Deanne Siemer (through Attorney Teresa Kim) think will be accomplished by pursuing a Freedom of Information Act request against the Federal Ombudsman's Office? It looks like the flying monkeys have been released once again.

Is this just the latest chapter in never-ending line of attempts of the Fitial Administration "to go after" the Ombudsman Office? The Fitial Administration seems to fear the office because it that protects the foreign workers' rights including from mean-spirited actions of the CNMI DOL, Siemer, and it also has exposed the CNMI's propaganda and spin.

Why does the CNMI government need intake papers that were used to create a federal report? With Siemer's history, most likely for some wicked Fitial Administration-backed plot to further stick it to the aliens.

Documents filed in the District Court seem to suggest just that. Kim states, "Because the Commonwealth is very small, both in land mass and number of residents, this change in status for a such a very large number of aliens relative to the U.S. citizen population would bring economic, political, and social changes that the Commonwealth government opposed." Really? No changes have been brought over that last three decades, but because these nonresident workers could conceivably get green cards and have some social and political rights, let go after the report and the person who helped to collect data for it? WICKED! It's all about maintaining that power and control over the disenfranchised underclass.

The DOI status report was compiled for members of Congress and satisfied the requirements under the CNRA. No members of Congress are requesting information or complaining about the report.

Today there is another story in the Marianas Variety debating the act of the Ombudman's Office's shredding the unneeded intake papers that were used to compose the tables for the report.

The Fitial Administration filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. How much is it costing the cash-strapped CNMI Government to pursue nonexistent papers? The Court will decide whether nonexistent papers can be provided under the FOIA and if the DOI can be sanctioned for destroying documents before a request for them was made.

What's really puzzling about this is why Theresa Kim is allowing herself to be used and manipulated by Seimer as a 'front' for this lawsuit. Fitial tried to prevent her from being renewed as Lt. Gov's legal counsel, so there's no love lost there. She only got renewed when Fitial was off island and the Lt. Gov could renew her himself. So why is she trying to hurt the Ombudsman's Office?

Anyone who reads the affidavit submitted by Siemer in support of denying the summary judgment motion in the FOIA case will see that Siemer is not only the attorney of record but also the client trying to villify the Ombudsman. Kim did not sign any affidavit or submit any other document in support of the case.

Not only did Siemer sign and write the documents but they are the exact witchy vendetta (I'm going to get you...) that appears in every CNMI statement and report including the DOL annual reports. All of the filings astounded me because it is so clear that it is a vendetta and has little legal basis at all. The US response that came out on May 5th was brilliant. I will do another post on this. They stated in legal terms what I had stated -that he documents were destroyed before the FOIA Act request so it is not possible to request them.

There are a number of attorneys in the CNMI who have allowed Siemer to use them. Kaipat was her puppet at DOL, and also the DOL Secretary who no one ever heard from except when a Siemer-written letter or report was issued. Now it is Kim. Why would an attorney with any ethical standing allow a vendetta-seeking person to use them like this? If I were Kim I would not want my name on any of the documents!

This is not the only lawsuit. Siemer, under the name of Kim again, filed one against the Social Security Administration. That one is very revealing. It seems that she wanted a memorandum that was issued in response to the CNMI threatening to destroy every immigration record. When the SSA sent a redacted one she filed a lawsuit. There was also a FOIA filed at DHS requesting any letters, reports etc. that I had sent to them.

It seems that Siemer may be in need of a mental health therapist, judging by a series of questionable acts. Why do attorneys and the CNMI government affiliate with this woman?

The CNMI government has a totally double standard in open government. They withheld the data on the aliens so that the counting had to be done by the ombudsman and then Siemer led the protest. Tina filed an OGA request to see Siemer's invoices and the Governor's Office refused to release them.

When did Governor Fitial allegedly try to block the renewal of Teresa's contract? After Tim Villagomez was sentenced? This seems an unfounded rumor, as Ben trusts her even more than Willens, certainly in matters dealing with the CNMI Legislature.

Did Tina ask to see specific invoices, or invoices for Deanne's services? In the latter case there quite likely could have been “none,” if as a volunteer she didn't charge for them.